Please provide copies of correspondence from the department to local authorities where home education or home educated children and young people are mentioned between June 1st 2014 and September 18th 2014.

Thank you for your recent enquiry. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible. For information; the departmental standard for correspondence received is that responses should be sent within 20 working days as you are requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0062095.

Dear Ms Nicholson,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 19
September. You requested:

Please provide copies of correspondence from the department to local
authorities where home education or home educated children and young
people are mentioned between June 1st 2014 and September 18th 2014.

I understand that personal data will have to be redacted

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

The Department holds the information you have requested. However, I
consider that the following exemption(s) apply to your request:

Section 35: Formulation or development of government policy. The
Department considers that section 35(1)(a) is engaged in respect of some
of the information you have requested.

The Act obliges the Department to respond to requests promptly, and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
where one of the exemptions listed above is applicable, the Department
must consider whether the public interest lies in disclosing or
withholding the information. In these circumstances the Act allows the
time for response to be longer than 20 working days.

In your case the Department estimates that it will take an additional 20
days to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies.
It is anticipated that you will receive a full response by 13 November
2014. If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a
conclusion, we will keep you informed.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0062095. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

Q Asked by Mr Barry Sheerman(Huddersfield)Asked on: 14 October 2014
Department for EducationHome Education210289
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to collect information on the (a) number, (b) religion and (c) ethnicity of children being homeschooled in England.

A Answered by: Mr Nick Gibb Answered on: 20 October 2014
There are no current plans to collect personal information on children receiving elective home education. The Department for Education is aware, however, of some concerns amongst local authorities about the information they have on such children in their areas. We have recently begun discussions with a range of representative bodies about these concerns and other home education issues, especially in relation to safeguarding

Dear Ms Nicholson,
Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 19
September. You requested:

Please provide copies of correspondence from the department to local
authorities where home education or home educated children and young
people are mentioned between June 1st 2014 and September 18th 2014.

I understand that personal data will have to be redacted

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

The Department holds the information you have requested. However, I
consider that the following exemption(s) apply to your request:

Section 35: Formulation or development of government policy. The
Department considers that section 35(1)(a) is engaged in respect of some
of the information you have requested.

The Act obliges the Department to respond to requests promptly, and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
where one of the exemptions listed above is applicable, the Department
must consider whether the public interest lies in disclosing or
withholding the information. In these circumstances the Act allows the
time for response to be longer than 20 working days.

In your case the Department estimates that it will take a further 20 days
to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies. It
is anticipated that you will receive a full response by 11 December 2014.
If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we
will keep you informed.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0062095. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

DfE is delaying answering my FOI on what it's been saying to LAs on the grounds that s35 is engaged. More

The Information Commissioner explains that "Section 35(1)(a) covers any information relating to the formulation and development of government policy. There is no automatic public interest in withholding all such information. Public interest arguments should focus on potential damage to policymaking from the content of the specific information and the timing of the request. Arguments will be strongest when there is a live policy process to protect."

If DfE were simply writing to LAs to say "follow the guidelines" then it would give me the data as it has done in the past, and the s35 exemption wouldn't come into play.

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 19
September. You requested:

Please provide copies of correspondence from the department to local
authorities where home education or home educated children and young
people are mentioned between June 1st 2014 and September 18th 2014.

I understand that personal data will have to be redacted

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(“the Act”).

The Department holds the information you have requested. However, I
consider that the following exemption(s) apply to your request:

Section 35: Formulation or development of government policy. The
Department considers that section 35(1)(a) is engaged in respect of some
of the information you have requested.

The Act obliges the Department to respond to requests promptly, and in any
case no later than 20 working days after receiving your request. However,
where one of the exemptions listed above is applicable, the Department
must consider whether the public interest lies in disclosing or
withholding the information. In these circumstances the Act allows the
time for response to be longer than 20 working days.

In your case the Department estimates that it will take a further 20 days
to take a decision on where the balance of the public interest lies. It
is anticipated that you will receive a full response by 13 January 2015.
If it appears that it will take longer than this to reach a conclusion, we
will keep you informed.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should
make a complaint to the Department by writing to me within two calendar
months of the date of this letter. Your complaint will be considered by
an independent review panel, who were not involved in the original
consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the
Department, you may then contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0062095. If
you need to respond to us, please visit:
[1]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.

2 Attachments

Dear Ms Nicholson,
Thank you for your email dated 18 September 2014 about Elective Home Education.

You requested:

Please provide copies of correspondence from the department to local authorities where home
education or home educated children and young people are mentioned between June 1st 2014 and
September 18th 2014.

I understand that personal data will have to be redacted

I have dealt with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Further to previous letters the Department has decided that the public interest lies in
disclosing the information although some is potentially covered by the s.35 exemption.

A copy of the information is enclosed. This is in two pdf files, the first containing
various items of relevant correspondence and the second containing documents pertaining to a
specific event (ie a meeting with the London home education officers’ forum).

Where relevant, personal information has been redacted under s.40 of the Act.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by copyright. You are free to use
it for your own purposes, including for private study and non-commercial research, and for
any other purpose authorised by an exception in current copyright law. Documents (except
photographs) can be also used in the UK without requiring permission for the purposes of
news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the
permission of the copyright holder.

Copyright in other documents may rest with a third party. For information about obtaining
permission from a third party see the Intellectual Property Office’s website at
[3]www.ipo.gov.uk.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the
reference number above in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled, you should make a complaint
to the Department by writing to me within two calendar months of the date of this letter.
Your complaint will be considered by an independent review panel, who were not involved in
the original consideration of your request.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint to the Department, you may then
contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Yours sincerely

S BISHOP

Independent Education and School Governance Division

Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2014/0062095. If you need to respond
to us, please visit: [4]www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number.